Boston-based Partners HealthCare and Brigham and Women's Hospital have agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations that a Brigham and Women's stem cell research laboratory fraudulently obtained funding from the National Institutes of Health, according to the Department of Justice.
The government alleged that at the direction of Piero Anversa, MD, who ran the facility, and two other researchers, the stem cell lab included false scientific information in applications submitted to NIH to obtain grant awards.
After learning of the possible research misconduct, Brigham and Women's disclosed its concerns to the federal government, according to the DOJ.
"Individuals and institutions that receive research funding from NIH have an obligation to conduct their research honestly and not to alter results to conform with unproven hypotheses," said Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb. "Medical research fraud not only wastes scarce government resources but also undermines the scientific process and the search for better treatments for serious diseases. We commend Brigham and Women's for self-disclosing the allegations of fraudulent research at the Anversa laboratory, and for taking steps to prevent future recurrences of such conduct."
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